1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to lamp sockets, and relates more particularly to a seasonal socket housing which permits a liquid, e.g, rain water, or a gas to drain-through the socket housing to avoid the liquid or gas from pooling in the socket housing and thus damaging the electric circuit.
2. Brief Discussion of the Related Art
Typically, a lamp socket is comprised of a socket body having a conductive center contact and a conductive side contact and an electrical wire is held against the center and side contacts so that an electrical connection is made between the wire and the contacts when the housing is assembled and the pointed tips of the contacts are forced to pierce the insulator of the electrical wire and to make electrical contact with the respective conductor in the electric wire. The lamp socket is designed to receive a conventional lamp bulb of a predetermined size and when the base of the lamp bulb is threaded into the internally threaded socket body, a first and a second contact of the lamp bulb are forced into contact with center and side contacts of the lamp socket, and therefore the electric circuit is closed, and the lamp bulb is lightened.
While this conventional socket structure is functional, it does suffer from a serious limitation, namely that is particularly unsuitable for use in an outside environment where the lamp socket and bulb are subjected continuously to rain water and moisture as a normal occurrence. When the lamp socket is used outdoors during a rainy day, rain water tends to accumulate in the socket housing and pool therein. As the rain water accumulates, it will cause the center and side contacts to be short circuited and if one was to touch the lamp socket with the hand when the socket is short circuited due to the rain water accumulation, an electric shock tends to occur. At the very least, this type of socket housing is inconvenient and not entirely fully operational outdoors and on a more serious note, the socket housing may pose a health risk due to its tendency to short circuit when rain water accumulates therein. Thus, because typical lamp sockets cannot effectively prevent rain water from accumulating in the socket housing where live electrical wires are disposed, they are unsuitable for use outdoors. In addition, other meteorological conditions, such as moisture (dew), snow, and high levels of humidity may impact the capability of the lamp socket to effectively function in an outdoor environment subject to these adverse conditions. Thus, from the foregoing discussion, it can be seen that it would be advantageous to provide a lamp socket which is suitable for use outdoors during a rainy day due to its socket design which permits rain water to drain through and does not facilitate a short circuit in the socket.